Evidence map›Paper›PMID 23013890›Full record

ArticleJournal of occupational medicine and toxicology (London, England)2012

Bronchial asthma and COPD due to irritants in the workplace - an evidence-based approach.

Xaver Baur, Prudence Bakehe, Henning Vellguth

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of occupational medicine and toxicology (London, England), 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 45 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
45citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
10.7field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

45 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 111 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Identifying risk factors for COPD and adult-onset asthma: an umbrella review.European respiratory review : an official journal of the European Respiratory Society · 2023
    Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Work-Related Asthma From Exposure to Cardboard and Paper Products.American journal of industrial medicine · 2026
    Article
  5. Review
  6. Article
  7. Review
  8. Formaldehyde and asthma: a plausibility?Archives of toxicology · 2025
    Review
  9. Article
  10. Review
  11. Review
  12. Article
  13. Environmental Substances Associated with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease-A Scoping Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022
    Article
  14. The Impact of Ambient Environmental and Occupational Pollution on Respiratory Diseases.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022
    Review
  15. Review
  16. Article
  17. Article
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  19. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Xaver BaurInstitute for Occupational and Maritime Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Seewartenstr, 10, 20459, Hamburg, Germany. baur@uke.uni-hamburg.de.
Prudence Bakehe
Henning Vellguth
University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf · DEUniversität Hamburg · DE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

unlabelled

backgroundRespiratory irritants represent a major cause of occupational obstructive airway diseases. We provide an overview of the evidence related to irritative agents causing occupational asthma or occupational COPD.

methodsWe searched MEDLINE via PubMed. Reference lists of relevant reviews were also screened. The SIGN grading system was used to rate the quality of each study. The modified RCGP three-star system was used to grade the body of evidence for each irritant agent regarding its causative role in either occupational asthma or occupational COPD.

resultsA total of 474 relevant papers were identified, covering 188 individual agents, professions or work-sites. The focus of most of the studies and the predominant diagnosis was occupational asthma, whereas occupational COPD arose only incidentally.The highest level assigned using the SIGN grading was 2+ (well-conducted systematic review, cohort or case-control study with a low risk of confounding or bias). According to the modified RCGP three-star grading, the strongest evidence of association with an individual agent, profession or work-site ("**") was found for 17 agents or work-sites, including benzene-1,2,4-tricarboxylicacid-1,2-anhydride, chlorine, platinum salt, isocyanates, cement dust, grain dust, animal farming, environmental tobacco smoke, welding fumes or construction work. Phthalic anhydride, glutaraldehyde, sulphur dioxide, cotton dust, cleaning agents, potrooms, farming (various), foundries were found to be moderately associated with occupational asthma or occupational COPD ("*[+]").

conclusionThis study let us assume that irritant-induced occupational asthma and especially occupational COPD are considerably underreported. Defining the evidence of the many additional occupational irritants for causing airway disorders will be the subject of continued studies with implications for diagnostics and preventive measures.

Identifiers

PMID23013890
PMCPMC3508803
OpenAlexW2112342168

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.